Hey there! I am a little confused about how spell casting and pact magic work with the warlock class. Also a little confused about why some spells say use and won't automatically take up a pack magic slot but the ones that say cast do. Can someone explain it like I'm 5?
The "use" spells are probably granted by Eldritch Invocations, since some invocations give you 1 use per day of a certain spell without using a Pact slot. (Or you might have racial spells, like the Tiefling's once-a-day Hellish Rebuke.) Which Warlock patron do you have, and which Invocations did you select?
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Warlock spellcasting mostly works the same way as other spellcasters, only the number, level, and recharge of their spell slots are different. And their spells above level 5 don't use slots at all, but otherwise still follow other spellcasting rules.
Ah, okay. I have The Fiend as my patron and chose Eldritch Invocations as well as Svirfneblin Magic. My character is also a Tiefling so I also have Hellish Rebuke. Does this mean I can use these spells without using a Pact slot?
I know I haven't really chosen all of the spells that I can learn and use as I've leveled up thus far but I'll get to that later lol. I'm still trying to figure out if I have to use a Pact slot for all of the other spells that have "use" on them instead of "cast" before adding in more elements.
The ones with "use" are from your feat and racial trait. You get a limited number of uses of them per long rest. I feel obliged to point out that your Svirfneblin Magic feat is only supposed to be taken by deep gnomes. Also, you have a staff that gives you spells as well, those are the ones that are maarked 1c/2c/3c/5c/6c for the number of charges they use from the staff when you cast them.
For some examples, Disguise Self (1st level) from Svirfneblin Magic and Polymorph (4th level) from Eldritch Invocations both show "use" but other spells like Command (4th level) Warlock and Vampiric Touch (4th level) Warlock show "cast" and will automatically mark off a Pact slot when I click cast.
Okay, I think I get it now. So the ones that are from my feat and racial traits can be used without using a spell slot but only once per long rest. Also, I need to remove the Svirfneblin Magic feat and choose something else because my character is not a gnome. Thanks for clearing this up and pointing that out to me!
Other than polymorph they are all cast without using any of your pact magic slots because they are granted by feats/racial traits that don't require the character to be a caster so there's no way they could depend on your spellcasting ability. Polymorph is granted by an invocation that lets you use it once per long rest, but also costs a pact magic slot when you use it.
Got it! Thanks for explaining this to me. I was very confused about if I was limited to the 2 slots with those too or not. Now I understand how it works.
Another thing in case you didn't realize, Warlocks get their pact slots back on a short rest, not a long rest like with regular spellcasting. You still have to be careful with how you use those scant 2 slots to cover a combat situation... which is where cantrips and Invocation-granted spells can help.
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For some examples, Disguise Self (1st level) from Svirfneblin Magic and Polymorph (4th level) from Eldritch Invocations both show "use" but other spells like Command (4th level) Warlock and Vampiric Touch (4th level) Warlock show "cast" and will automatically mark off a Pact slot when I click cast.
Ok, you are referring to the way DDB's character sheet displays spells from limited use features.
Don't get hung up on the way things are displayed on the character sheet and instead focus on what the feature description actually says.
(Usually*) All spells are still cast even when not using spell slots. The "use" buttons mark off the limited use feature that granted the spell rather than using a spell slot.
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Hey there! I am a little confused about how spell casting and pact magic work with the warlock class. Also a little confused about why some spells say use and won't automatically take up a pack magic slot but the ones that say cast do. Can someone explain it like I'm 5?
The "use" spells are probably granted by Eldritch Invocations, since some invocations give you 1 use per day of a certain spell without using a Pact slot. (Or you might have racial spells, like the Tiefling's once-a-day Hellish Rebuke.) Which Warlock patron do you have, and which Invocations did you select?
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
Can you give an example of the use vs cast thing?
Warlock spellcasting mostly works the same way as other spellcasters, only the number, level, and recharge of their spell slots are different. And their spells above level 5 don't use slots at all, but otherwise still follow other spellcasting rules.
Ah, okay. I have The Fiend as my patron and chose Eldritch Invocations as well as Svirfneblin Magic. My character is also a Tiefling so I also have Hellish Rebuke. Does this mean I can use these spells without using a Pact slot?
For reference here is my character sheet: https://ddb.ac/characters/45165218/KQC0IB
I know I haven't really chosen all of the spells that I can learn and use as I've leveled up thus far but I'll get to that later lol. I'm still trying to figure out if I have to use a Pact slot for all of the other spells that have "use" on them instead of "cast" before adding in more elements.
The ones with "use" are from your feat and racial trait. You get a limited number of uses of them per long rest. I feel obliged to point out that your Svirfneblin Magic feat is only supposed to be taken by deep gnomes. Also, you have a staff that gives you spells as well, those are the ones that are maarked 1c/2c/3c/5c/6c for the number of charges they use from the staff when you cast them.
For some examples, Disguise Self (1st level) from Svirfneblin Magic and Polymorph (4th level) from Eldritch Invocations both show "use" but other spells like Command (4th level) Warlock and Vampiric Touch (4th level) Warlock show "cast" and will automatically mark off a Pact slot when I click cast.
Okay, I think I get it now. So the ones that are from my feat and racial traits can be used without using a spell slot but only once per long rest. Also, I need to remove the Svirfneblin Magic feat and choose something else because my character is not a gnome. Thanks for clearing this up and pointing that out to me!
Other than polymorph they are all cast without using any of your pact magic slots because they are granted by feats/racial traits that don't require the character to be a caster so there's no way they could depend on your spellcasting ability. Polymorph is granted by an invocation that lets you use it once per long rest, but also costs a pact magic slot when you use it.
Got it! Thanks for explaining this to me. I was very confused about if I was limited to the 2 slots with those too or not. Now I understand how it works.
Another thing in case you didn't realize, Warlocks get their pact slots back on a short rest, not a long rest like with regular spellcasting. You still have to be careful with how you use those scant 2 slots to cover a combat situation... which is where cantrips and Invocation-granted spells can help.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
Ok, you are referring to the way DDB's character sheet displays spells from limited use features.
Don't get hung up on the way things are displayed on the character sheet and instead focus on what the feature description actually says.
(Usually*) All spells are still cast even when not using spell slots. The "use" buttons mark off the limited use feature that granted the spell rather than using a spell slot.